1 week Ago
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs into the end zone for a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, September 22, 2024. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New Orleans Saints 15-12. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Sometimes in football, really good isn’t good enough.
For much of the Week 3 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans Saints defense made the plays when they counted. Through three quarters, the Saints were pitching a shutout, giving up a big chunk of yardage here and there but making up for it with huge plays of their own. But the fourth quarter belonged to the Birds, as Philadelphia connected on two haymakers that were effectively the difference in the game: Saquon Barkley roaring untouched through the Saints defense for a 65-yard touchdown, and tight end Dallas Goedert running free down the sidelines for 61 yards to set up a go-ahead touchdown inside the final two minutes.
“You could play great defense for 55 minutes, and in five minutes it can kind of get away from you,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. New Orleans needed its defense Sunday. An offense that blitzed the Panthers and Cowboys for 91 combined points mustered only an opening-drive field goal through three quarters Sunday.
And it looked like the defense was up to the task. Time and time again, the Saints made huge defensive plays in critical moments. In fact, four consecutive drives featured Saints defensive players making plays to hand the ball back to the offense.
1: With the Eagles threatening at the Saints’ 11-yard line, Mathieu picked off Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter. 2: Following a three-and-out by the Saints offense, the Eagles marched downfield again, making it to the Saints’ 40 before Carl Granderson sacked Hurts from behind, forcing a fumble that Willie Gay recovered. 3: On the 15th play of the Eagles’ ensuing drive, facing a fourth-and-1 from the Saints’ 15, the Eagles tried to catch the Saints gearing up for the vaunted “tush push” play.
Instead, Hurts handed the ball off to Barkley, but Chase Young and Pete Werner sniffed the play out and dropped him for no gain. 4: On the opening drive of the second half, Philadelphia went for another fourth down from the Saints’ 34. This time, defensive tackle Bryan Bresee made the play, sacking Hurts for a loss of 6.
“I thought we played hard; I thought we played fast,” Mathieu said. “There were just a couple moments in the game where we broke down as a defense.” It was Barkley who stormed through the cracks in the fourth quarter.
Mathieu said the Saints were in a Cover-0 look with a blitz coming from the left side of the Eagles formation, and that is exactly where the play went. The Philadelphia offensive line blocked the play perfectly, and when Barkley got past the initial line, there was nobody there on the second or third level. Barkley saw the lane, made one cut and beat Marshon Lattimore and Alontae Taylor in a foot race to the end zone for a 65-yard score.
“He’s a good player,” safety Will Harris said. “If you give him anything, he’s going to take it.” Still, New Orleans took the lead back when Derek Carr found Chris Olave for a touchdown with about two minutes remaining, turning the game over to the defense for a chance at redemption.
For a second, it looked like they might get their vindication. Bresee recorded his second sack, setting up a third-and-16 with 1:16 remaining. And that is when the Eagles, playing without star receivers A.
J. Brown and Devonta Smith, called a pick play to free up Goedert. Mathieu said the Eagles ran that particular play three or four times in the game.
Goedert had already had an impressive performance to that point, with his first nine catches going for 109 yards. He and Barkley were the two players drawing most of the Saints' attention. Which might explain what happened next: Goedert crossed from right to left, underneath a left-to-right crossing route from his teammate Jahan Dotson.
Safety Jordan Howden crashed hard on Goedert, and in the process collided with Marshon Lattimore, who then collided with Harris. Harris was guarding Goedert on the play. The pileup freed up the big tight end, who rumbled 61 yards to the Saints’ 4-yard line.
Barkley scored what became the winning touchdown on the next play. “It is what it is,” Harris said. “I’ve got to be better; we’ve got to find a way to get the guy on the ground.
” Not everything is going to look good upon review. The Saints allowed 460 yards of net offense, and they did it against an Eagles team that was already without one Pro Bowl receiver (Brown), lost another (Smith) and also lost two starting offensive linemen (Lane Thomas and Mekhi Becton). But it was a good enough effort to win .
.. until it wasn’t.
“Our team is always going to fight, but there is no such thing as, ‘Hey, you did a good job,’ if you don’t come up winning,” said defensive end Cam Jordan. “There’s a lot of positives, and at the same time, there’s some plays you wish you had back. "Two particularly where you’re like, ‘Damn, you eliminate one of those, we’re in a whole different position.
’”.
